Sportsgrid Staff
Host · Writer - Published: 01/14/25
I’ve been a fan of RMG casinos in the past, but in recent years I’ve made the switch to sweepstakes casinos and this is a trend I am seeing for the iGaming industry in general.
Sweepstakes casinos have become insanely popular and they have a heap of benefits compared to their RMG counterparts. Below, I explore what makes these sites tick, why US players are flocking to them in their thousands, and give you 3 top examples that you could register at today.
If you aren’t in the know, sweepstakes casinos offer free play gaming where players use virtual currencies for gameplay. They offer a range of benefits compared to traditional RMG sites, including:
A major benefit is that they are free to play at! You can’t make real money deposits, nor can you engage in real money gameplay. Instead, you use virtual currencies – Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins. These coins are handed out for free and this is a requirement if social casinos want to comply with US sweepstakes regulations.
RMG casinos are only legal in 6 US states and sportsbooks in around 38 states. In contrast, sweepstakes casinos are usually available in 40+ states, with the best sites being legal in 46 states. It’s only usually Washington, Idaho, Michigan, and Nevada that are commonly excluded from sweepstakes casino availability. This means that a far greater number of US residents over 18 can legally play at them.
I see a common misconception that sweepstakes casinos game libraries are small. They aren’t. The top sites usually feature 1,000+ games and this isn’t just limited to slots. You can typically find slots, jackpots, Megaways, live dealer games, single player table games, arcade games, and video poker. In most instances, I’ve found that social casino game libraries exceed those of traditional RMG sites.
Lastly, sweepstakes casinos have heaps of promotions and are always giving you free Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins. Common promotions include the welcome bonus, referral bonus, daily login bonus, and mail-in request bonus. Most sites also have frequent social media and email contests and giveaways too.
I’ve had plenty of experience with these sites so below, I’ve picked 3 of the best sweepstakes casinos as examples of what you can expect. These represent the best of the best and have plenty of games and ways to get free coins.
If you want free Sweeps Coins then Stake.us is the place to go, although SC are called Stake Cash here. If you use the SPORTSGRID promo code when you create a new account, you’ll get 55 Stake Cash, 260,000 Gold Coins, and a 5% rakeback which is currently one of the largest welcome bonuses available. There’s also a huge daily login bonus of 10,000 Gold Coins and 1 Stake Cash.
For gaming, Stake shows that sweepstakes casinos can have more than just slots as it has a brilliant collection of Stake Original arcade games. Crash is my favorite of these, but Dice, Mines, and Plinko are also classics. This social casino also has plenty of live dealer games including blackjack and baccarat.
McLuck excels at free online slots with bonus features and I enjoy playing the jackpot and Megaways slots here. You’ve got 1,000+ games to choose from and the jackpot slots have Sweeps Coins prize pools that I’ve seen be over 10,000 SC. There is a top range of classic Megaways slots too like Pompeii, Buffalo King, and Beware of the Deep.
If you create an account with McLuck, you’ll get 7,500 Gold Coins and 2.5 Sweeps Coins as a no deposit bonus. You can also invite 10 friends using your referral code and get a maximum bonus of 200,000 GC and 100 SC. Every day there’s a daily login bonus of 2,500 GC and 0.25 SC, plus a mail-in request bonus of 4 SC.
If you want to treat yourself to the optional Gold Coin packages, Hello Millions has 3 different GC purchase bonuses. You can get 50,000 GC and 25 free SC for $9.99, 80,000 GC and 40 free SC for $19.99, and 100,000 GC and 50 free SC for $39.99. You don’t need any social casino promo codes for these – just head to the GC package page.
This sweepstakes casino has 1,000+ casino-style games and I enjoy the Slingo and live dealer titles here. The games are provided by top developers like Booming Games, 3 Oaks Gaming, Relax Gaming, and NetEnt. As a new customer, you’ll also get 15,000 Gold Coins and 2.5 Sweeps Coins as a no purchase bonus.
I don’t think sweepstakes casinos are going anywhere! They have some of the best availability in the US and have all the same benefits as RMG sites, but without many of the associated negatives. You can play at sites like Hello Millions, Stake.us, and McLuck for free using Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins and enjoy superb game variety with the thousands of available slots, live dealers, and arcade games.
_1682010035.svg)
